Deliah

Every Monday we will be bringing you an unsigned singer or band as part of our Independent Music Monday feature. This week, we caught up with Michelle from band Deliah find out more about them...

Who is in the duo, how did you meet, where are you from and how did you come up with the duo name?We’re actually a 4 piece as of 2018. It was a duo when Dop and I first started out, but we always had George on drums and Tee on bass and it just made sense to officially make it a 4 piece. Me, Dop and Tee all met at Uni, and George was in a similar, musical crowd in Liverpool. The name comes from my Great Grandmother – it was her first name and is my middle name. That’s why it’s spelt a bit strangely.

Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?My influences haven’t really changed. I was always into Fleetwood Mac and Florence and I still am. There are now other icons such as Childish Gambino and Christine and the Queens who are doing amazingly artistic things that inspire us, as well as a lot of film music for Dop, R&B for Tea and heavier Rock stuff for George.

How would you describe your sound?Probably just with the word Alternative. Sounds vague but we have Electronic elements, Rock elements, Soundscape elements and we come from doing a Neo-Soul/R&B thing which seeps in too. So yeah… Alternative is easier to say than Electro-Neo-Soul-Rock-Scape… or is it?

What is your latest single called and what was the influence behind it?The latest single is called 'Achromatic' and is the first of a trilogy that we are embarking on, based around Mental Health issues in the creative industries. This first one tackles the fact that mental health in art is seen as romantic or even ‘cool’, but the reality is not the same. How can an artist paint if they see no colour? People often think that if you’re depressed then you write a masterpiece from it, but through members of the band's personal experience it’s the opposite, it’s crippling. So the song is quite indulgent, it’s not a “look at me I made it through”, it’s a “come and experience it yourself and see that it isn’t arty or romantic at all”.

What’s your local music scene like?Well we’re based in London now, but our ‘local scene’ would be Liverpool I suppose, which is obviously a great city for music, one of the best in the country. It was good for us to a certain point, as we found our little pocket in the scene, with friends and colleagues like Little Grace and Xam Volo. The only problem that we found is that the industry and audience tend to like a certain type, genre or vibe of band, something that we didn’t quite fit, but every scene has its main market.

What do you have planned for the next 12 months? Any albums or festivals?We will be releasing another two singles as part of the trilogy I mentioned before – 'The Mind’s Eye' – both with videos that tell a story all within the same room (our little brain) as the 'Achromatic' video. We’re also playing The Great Escape and Dot To Dot this month, which we’re really excited about, but we want to play live more so we’ll be looking into touring as much as possible to help spread the messages of the trilogy.

Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?Childish Gambino would be right at the top – the guy is maverick and a complete artist. Dop would love to work with Rick Rubin and a film composer called Daniel Hart. I think, as a band, we’d love to do something with an orchestra one day because, well, how amazing would that be?!

Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?We’ve had a few technical mishaps as we got used to using more technology live, like our drummer, George’s, metronome track coming out the front of house, and laptops deciding to throw a paddy. Dop’s guitar strap breaks quite frequently, which keeps him on his toes. One of my favourites was after playing the main stage at Watchet Festival a year or so ago, the sound engineer came over and told us that he got so into our set that he cranked it loud enough to set off a car alarm… that was an achievement for everyone involved I think!

What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?We want people to invest in the different stories the trilogy tells. Whether that is just for the story itself or because they relate to it in their own way, we want people to invest. We don’t write Pop songs with meaningless lyrics or anything, everything is there for a reason and we really try to craft what we do – from the production of a song through to the imagery. We invest in and ‘fan boy’ over all the films, books, art and music that we love and we want to create something for people to do the same with us. Failing that, come to a show and just have a great time!